


Future Boy: In The Beginning

by Anonymous



Series: The Future Boy Chronicles [1]
Category: Back to the Future (Movies)
Genre: Also Jennifer Is Accepting As Well Because Of Course, But This is Fanfiction So Everything Works Out, Don't Make Your Own Testosterone Shots Guys!, Dubious Medical Procedures, F/M, Gen, Guitars, Marty Is Trans and His Family Is Accepting and Loves Him Because Why Not, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25279762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Marty McFly is a boy. Now if only the people at school would realize that.Or, how Marty realizes he's trans, and starts transitioning—and the various triumphs and challenges that come along with being transgender in the 1980s.
Relationships: Emmett "Doc" Brown & Marty McFly, Marty McFly & McFly Family, Marty McFly/Jennifer Parker
Series: The Future Boy Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2039449
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59
Collections: Anonymous





	Future Boy: In The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot believe I've never thought of Marty as trans before! Brief trigger warning for one instance of the t-slur, and use of the word "transsexual" instead of "transgender" (as was appropriate then), if that's bothersome.

Marty's parents don't exactly understand it, but for people who grew up in the fifties, they're surprisingly accepting.

It was probably around middle school when Elizabeth "Betty" McFly realized that being a girl wasn't all it was cracked up to be. She'd always been what her mother affectionately called a "troublesome tomboy," but then it had grown into less tom and more boy.

See, one of the more prominent memories was one cloudy Sunday in 1978, where she'd spent the morning in mass in a skirt and wishing for the tenth time she could just wear slacks like Dave did. But nothing had clicked until that evening, where she'd curled up next to her father on the couch to watch some reruns, and the film _Glen or Glenda_ had come on.

Halfway through it, her father abruptly turns the TV off and scoops her up, putting her to bed.

"Aw, why!" she whines, pouting. "It was just getting good!"

(In reality, Betty had barely been paying attention to the TV, and had been falling asleep on the couch.)

"I'm afraid it wasn't," George says gently, and an unsure look crosses his face. "Betty... ah... what that movie showed you... do you know what was going on? At all?"

Betty shakes her head, and that night she learns what _transsexual_ means, and what the characters were talking about, and that she might have a name for what she feels.

As the years go by, Betty realizes more and more—through conversations with Dave, jokes with her father, and comments in class—that she's a _boy_ _._

At fourteen, the summer before high school, Betty picks out a name, something vaguely heard in passing, in nostalgic conversations between George and Lorraine—and now he's _Marty_ _._

After an emotional hour-long conversation, Marty thinks, maybe, that whoever he got his name from probably helped him win over his parents when he finally tells them, because Lorraine's shock is slightly dampened by the fact that he's now calling himself Marty, and something in her eyes softens. George is a bit more understanding than Marty thinks he might have been—maybe he remembers that night, four years ago.

His siblings don't really care—well, they think it's a little weird at first, but they soon get used to it, and even if one of them slips up now and again, it's loads better than what it could be.

The next week, he calls the Baines (George's parents, unfortunately, being passed, would never hear of it). His grandparents outright _refuse_ to accept it, and after a lot of shouting on the phone on Lorraine's end, she bids them a terse goodbye and hangs up with misty eyes. Later that day, she inexplicably comes up to Marty's room with a bowl of fruit and kisses him on the forehead, but not before Marty can catch a whiff of brandy in her breath.

Before Marty can start high school, and because his parents leave everything to the last minute, Lorraine and George register him—whether accidentally or on purpose—as a male student.

And amazingly, for a few weeks... no one notices. The gym teacher doesn't require them to change until the second month of school, and as Marty wears so many layers anyway, no one seems to notice.

After all, the rest of the freshman boys are in nearly the same boat as him, obvious things aside. Many of them still have high voices, some caught in voice cracks, and quite a few haven't grown any facial hair yet, to their dismay.

Linda, who is a senior when Marty starts high school, pulls him aside the first day and says, sharply, that if anyone messes with him, they mess with her, which is somewhat surprising, considering how apathetic she seems about the situation in general.

Marty's seen Linda's friends—mostly girls and a few awkward guys who seem like they're constantly trying to work up the confidence to breathe easy. But even though it might not help, it's... actually pretty good to know that his sister's got his back.

But in the second month of school, all hell breaks loose. Marty makes up all sorts of excuses not to change for gym—he's lost his uniform, has an allergy to polyester, his doctor says he can't—but one day his teacher gets fed up and forces him to put on an old uniform he found in the back of the office...

And _everyone_ finds out.

Mr. Strickland throws a goddamn fit, that's for sure, and though Marty's never been in the principal's presence before—he's always managed to just sneak out of sight before getting caught—he makes a silent vow of hatred that day, as spit flies into his face when Strickland calls him a _sneak,_ a _tranny,_ and, his favorite, _slacker_ _._

George buckles under Strickland. Lorraine does not.

Staring in wonder as his _mother_ has a screaming match with Strickland in his office, loud enough to deafen the secretaries nearby, Marty thinks that he really needs to give her more credit.

Lorraine loses the battle, but Marty feels like he's won the war, in a weak sort of way.

Officially, Marty is reset in the system as a female student. But there's a catch— "Elizabeth" is never put in the system.

Here's where Marty thinks, truly, that he must be dreaming.

Lorraine's combined fury at Strickland and protection of Marty—with a dash of having too much time on her hands—culminates into calling her sister Ellen in Chicago, who works as a legal secretary or something and knows her way around the law, and somehow, fantastically, Marty's birth certificate is changed.

(Lorraine tries to explain the process to him, once, but when she gets to Ellen's friend's brother's cousin who's changed a few names in his lifetime, Marty's eyes start glazing over).

So no one at school knows about _Elizabeth_ _._ Not even his teachers, who have reverted to either calling him Miss McFly or just not referring to him at all. Which isn't so bad, really, because Marty would rather try and listen to Pink Floyd in class than raise his hand and start talking about _quadratic equations_ anyway.

But on the other hand, it also means, unfortunately, that Marty doesn't really have any _friends_ anymore. The friends he _did_ make before everything came out had dropped him, and anyone who seems friendly usually turns distant after a few days, when someone pulls them aside and whispers the truth to them.

But it's _fine_ _._ And after being the only one to show up to a call for volunteers for a science experiment, it's more than fine.

Marty had been scared, of course he was, when Doc had found out. But, in typical Doc fashion, he shrugs, says something about gender being a fallible human construct and barely worth the time of day beyond reproductive measures, and refers to him as a boy from then on.

Afraid to toe the line too much, Marty mostly shuts up about it. After all, Doc's accepted him, but there's no telling how much Doc wants to hear about transsexuals versus other subjects.

But after a particularly hard day at school, coupled with growing fears about never _actually_ looking like a man when he grows up, Marty bursts into tears in Doc's garage. (Doc, caught off-guard and inexperienced in the random mood swings of teenagers, had scuttled around until he finds a blanket and a bottle of Coke to give him, and awkwardly pats him on the back until Marty calms down enough to talk.)

Doc, racking his brains for something to make Marty feel better, tells him about Christine Jorgenson, and April Ashley, and even shows him some old pictures of them that he digs out of the boxes of archive pictures in the garage, and Marty, eyes wide, thinks that this might be _possible,_ that he might really be able to get those surgeries Doc mentioned. Even if he has to go to Denmark like Christine, damn it, even if he has no idea where'd he get the money for that.

"Of course, you'd have to go through quite a bit of hormonal therapy, I'd imagine," Doc says offhandedly, and Marty peers up at him.

"Hormonal therapy?"

Doc blinks at him, as though he half-expected Marty to know about it already. "Testosterone, Marty. In order to reduce the effects of the estrogen working in your body, and in order to put you through, effectively, a 'second puberty,' although I'm not entirely certain—"

"Whoa, whoa, Doc, I'm gonna have to—to go through _puberty_ again?" Marty's voice quiets on the word, embarrassed.

"Well, I'd only suppose, but—hasn't your doctor ever told you...?"

"My mom makes me dress up like a chick to go to the doctor," Marty grumbles. "She's afraid they might—I dunno—refuse to serve me or something if they knew. I hate it," he adds, in case Doc doesn't already know.

Doc looks troubled, then thoughtful.

About a month later, Marty's concerns about testosterone and whatever Doc was talking about with going through puberty again are still there, but not quite on the forefront of his mind.

What _is_ on the forefront of his mind is a beautiful, sleek, glossy guitar in the window of a new shop that he's passed every morning now on the way to school, and his growing savings.

One golden day, on Christmas Eve, Marty gets paid to shovel three of his neighbor's driveways—two of them are just old bats who couldn't be bothered to do it themselves, the third is going on vacation—and collects his Christmas money early from his aunts and uncles. And after a quick trip to Guitar Center, Marty is now the proud owner of an Ibanez Roadstar Strat with all the fixins, including a beginner's video tape with a guest appearance from Huey Lewis. (Marty watches it over and over again 'til he can practically recite it word for word—a talent his parents wish he could devote to his history books instead).

And a month later, after an especially mediocre January school day, Doc surprises him in the garage.

"It's my own concoction," Doc says, a familiar manic gleam in his eyes, "I've been borrowing medical textbooks from the library—they don't go over gender changes, but there are treatments for men who overproduce estrogen, who grow breast tissue and all of that—"

"Excuse me?" says Marty, who has certainly never heard of _that_ in his Health class. "Doc, wh—"

" _This_ should help you transition," Doc says gleefully, filling up a syringe. "Now, hold still."

"Doc, Doc, just hang on a second," Marty says, yanking his arm away, "I-I trust your judgement and all that, but, I mean, are you sure this is actually gonna work? I mean, my parents would freak out if they knew you were _injecting chemicals_ into me, how are you sure this isn't gonna... mess anything up?"

"Marty," Doc says, finally looking him in the eyes, "I take your safety _very_ seriously—I've been speaking with a few other doctors, you know, ones _far_ more well versed in the human body than I—and I _do_ believe this will work. Hormone therapy has a long history, you know, probably the _earliest_ being around..."

"You're... _sure_ this will work?" Marty asks again, before Doc can dive into another history session.

"I've tested it on myself, no negative results," Doc says cheerfully, motioning to his own arms, and then returning to seriousness, "but if you don't want to try, I fully understand wanting to wait for another doctor, or even never at all."

Marty decides to wait for a while—it's definitely a surprise, a welcome one, but it's a _lot_ to handle, and a lot to think about. After all, he's got a week of tests coming up, too, and he really doesn't want the extra worry of sprouting tentacles out his ears or something in the middle of class.

A month later, Marty stands in the bathroom and winces at his first shot of testosterone.

As the year progresses, and over the summer, Marty starts noticing _actual changes,_ and it makes him so giddy with excitement that he barely pays attention to the road as he races over to tell Doc about the newest reaction.

There _are_ some negative side effects—Marty breaks out so severely that his parents are worried he's developed hives or a new allergy or something, and a trip to the dermatologist prescribes him cream and embarrassment.

Not only that, but hair doesn't occur where Marty wants it to. Not on his face, no, no stubble to show off—but on his _back_ and _chest_ and literally wherever else. And honestly? It's kind of gross. Marty kind of misses the peach fuzz he used to have.

But he _knows_ his parents are noticing the changes, and one day, a few weeks before school starts up again, he shows up to Doc's and his heart drops—his parents' car is in the driveway.

George and Lorraine exit the house as Doc bids them goodbye, and, suddenly caught by the urge to hide, Marty watches them leave from behind a tree.

Mustering some courage, Marty skates up to him. "Heya, Doc, what was that all about?"

Doc jumps, clearly startled, and he nervously fiddles with his hands. "Ah, Marty. Thought I would have a bit more time to try and figure out how to tell you..."

"What? What's going on?" Marty says, half panicked and half suspicious. "Doc, did they—did you tell them what was going on?"

"Calm down, Marty, they figured it out themselves," Doc says quickly, "I mean, it was clear you were going through changes, and there's only so many disgraced scientists in Hill Valley you've interacted with—"

For Doc's information, there's only _one_ disgraced scientist in Hill Valley that Marty's interacted with, but he decides to let Doc keep talking.

"And, well, your parents were concerned, of course—George was afraid you were taking _steroids,_ although given his nature—well. I digress. But—"

"Doc," Marty cuts in, unable to hear anymore of Doc's chatter. "Just give it to me straight here. Are they okay with everything? Can I still keep taking it? Can I still keep going up in doses and stuff?"

"Well... no, not exactly," Doc says, slowly. "We—well, we made an agreement. You're not to take any higher doses of testosterone until we have a doctor here who can assist you," and before Marty can say anything, "a _physician_ who can assist you."

"What?" Marty manages, "Doc, Doc, you _know_ how I feel, how Mom feels about the doctors, there's no way—I can't go back to looking that way again, _please—"_

"Marty, please," Doc says quickly, looking alarmed, "We agreed you're not to take any higher doses. But your mother—well, she thought that if they banned it outright that you would still find a way to get it, and she didn't like the idea of you going off to find it without me _or_ your parents."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marty asks, hoping against hope that... _something_ will happen.

"You can keep taking the doses," Doc allows, "but they _must not progress_ beyond the level they're at now. They'll keep you from regressing back, from looking how you were at the first dosage again, but you'll keep looking, more or less, how you appear now."

A shaky breath comes out of Marty, and he holds his arms tight against his chest. He won't be able to look any— _any_ more masculine than he is right now—for _years_ _._ All because his stupid _parents_ got involved.

"If—if it helps," Doc says hesitantly, "I heard one of the neighbors talking about the 'nice young man' that waves to him every time he skates over to the garage. And I don't _think_ Mr. Peterson knew you as—er—" Doc mumbles something unintelligible that is probably supposed to resemble his birth name— "So... you pass well enough, now."

It _does_ help, a little. Marty makes a note to offer to mow Mr. Peterson's lawn for free sometime.

Sophomore year comes with a new list of challenges, but at least the dosages, if only to keep his hormones at status quo, make everything a bit better.

For one thing, there's a new girl, a transfer, in his World History class. And Marty can't keep his eyes off her.

Jennifer Parker, Marty is pretty sure, was sent to him from the heavens. He's not particularly religious—his family stopped going to church years ago—but something about Jennifer makes him think she's an angel.

Marty tells her, straight out, before anyone can get to her first. If he'd had his way, he wouldn't have _anyone_ tell her, because it'd be a heartbreak and a half to see Jennifer leave him because of that... but she stays.

More than that, she _accepts_ _._ And even more than _that,_ she _understands_ _._ Jennifer even brings him over to her circle of friends and give them glares if they look anything like they might throw a mean comment his way.

For the first time since middle school, Marty doesn't sit alone in the cafeteria anymore. He has a _friend_ _._ And a crush.

And a plan.

Luckily, Jennifer likes guitarists. So one cool September night, while the wind whistles through the garage, Marty plays a song he wrote just for her, and sings his heart out over it, shutting his eyes and letting the music carry him away, and opens his eyes, and the words tumble out before he can even think—"Jennifer, will you go out with me?"

And it's a resounding _yes,_ and later, as Marty lies in bed replaying the moment over and over again to himself, he thinks he's probably the luckiest guy in the whole galaxy.

Life still has its ups and downs—Strickland's always out to get him, Jennifer's friends are still getting used to him, and he's a little bit worried about the cases of plutonium that are suddenly appearing in Doc's garage—but hey, now it's junior year, and Marty's seventeen.

So when he gets a call from Doc asking him to meet at Twin Pines Mall at 1:30 the next morning, he's not too worried.

After all, his life is already pretty crazy right now, and he's handled it pretty damn well. What could happen?

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for any errors, formatting or otherwise. I wrote this on my phone at 3:00 in the morning.  
> The timeline is a little dubious, since it says that Marty took his name from overhearing it from George and Lorraine's conversations, although I think it's plausible that George could have had a relative named Marty as well. I definitely wanted to clarify that this George and Lorraine are the pre-time-travel versions of themselves, though. But paradox stuff, so theoretically it COULD be himself that they're talking about. Who knows? I'm not a nuclear physicist.  
> Also, I realize George and Lorraine are probably a lot more accepting than they realistically would be—but this is my story, and I want Marty to feel accepted. Us trans people deserve it.


End file.
